The Panthers didn’t hire an experienced special teams coach, but they may now have the league’s most experienced assistant to the assistant.
After promoting assistant special teams coach-turned interim Richard Rodgers to the full gig (after he replaced the fired Brian Murphy midseason), the Panthers responded by getting NFL veteran Bruce DeHaven as their assistant special teams coach. The team announced the move this morning.
Rodgers was a college teammate of Panthers coach Ron Rivera who had never worked in the NFL before getting the entry-level gig, but DeHaven comes to the Panthers with 26 years of NFL experience under his belt, having worked for the Bills (twice), 49ers, Cowboys and Seahawks, along with jobs in college and the USFL.
The Panthers also hired former Jets assistant Lance Taylor as their assistant wide receivers coach, where he’ll work with promoted assistant Ricky Proehl.
The Panthers elected to go young with several staff hires this offseason, offering some of their candidates only a one-year contract, in a make-or-break year for Rivera.